Iraq is imploding. Should we lend air support or wash our hands?

[deltex1]

If they are fighting each other, they aren't focusing on US. Let them handle their own business or let them request help from the UN and let OTHER countries "help" them. We need a break and WE need to focus on America first.

It's quite foolish to assume that these guys aren't focused on doing us harm. Just look at how they responded to the Bergdahl trade. They vowed to start abducting Americans for ransom in exchange for their own fighters.

Obama's foreign policy on Iraq is like putting a pot of water on a rolling boil, then putting it on simmer in hopes it will stop boiling altogether.

Oh this leader is a piece of work. Check this out. Even the left wing rag WP describes him as formidable.

“The true heir to Osama bin Laden may be ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi,” wrote The Washington Post’s David Ignatius. He is “more violent, more virulent, more anti-American,” a senior U.S. intelligence official told the columnist, while the cautious and uncharismatic Zawahiri “is not coping well.”

In fact, Baghdadi is now recruiting fighters from other Zawahiri affiliates, including al-Qaeda’s Yemen branch and the Somalia-based al-Shabab.

This monster is enormously successful.

“Whereas Baghdadi has done an amazing amount — he has captured cities, he has mobilized huge amounts of people, he is killing ruthlessly throughout Iraq and Syria…. If you were a guy who wanted action, you would go with Baghdadi.”

How ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi became the world?s most powerful jihadist leader - The Washington Post

How hard is it to kill Baghdadi?..

 

[JakeStarkey]

We don't have the leadership to do anything. obama cannot put together a coalition of forces. No one trusts him. obama decapitated our own military leaders by firing over 300 generals and commanders in a competency purge.

Katzndogz is not telling you that our allies fear, hate, and distrust America's far right, the very folks like Katzndogz.

Our allies want to make sure our far right has nothing to do with foreign policy making.

Damn right.

No one is talking to obama. Even David Cameron told him no. We don't have any allies.

Because he is afraid of our neo-cons and folks like you, not Obama.

 

[JakeStarkey]

Iran is a agent of stability in the region, the US, Saudi, and the Gulf States are agents of chaos(who have created Frankenstein monster in ISIS they lost control of). Who would have thought considering the mainstream media narrative about Iran.

Iran will help Iraq save Baghdad. But make no mistake, the shia are every bit as evil as the sunni.

 

[U2Edge]

The terrorists are now marching on Bagdad. The Iraq government is asking for help, should we oblige?
Seems strange to me that we would spend all the money & lives just to let it fall in a matter of weeks/months.

Absolutely the United States and other countries should help. Why let a terrorist organization like ISIS win and threaten the world. Don't make the mistake that the United States did in Vietnam and abandon a country to tyranny.

Greatest Purveyor of Violence in the World, remember?
Why would you think more killing, maiming, and displacing will solve the problem created by the USofA?

The United States made the region more stable. The United States made Kuwait safer than it has been in a generation. The United States brought the killings and instability in Iraq down and got it under control. Then Obama failed to follow through and withdrew troops prematurely. Still Iraq was able to hold on for over 2 years despite essentially being abandoned by the Obama administration.

Sending in around 10,000 U.S. troops, special forces, advisors and forward observers to work with the Iraqi military in the south near Baghdad and the Kurdish military in the north near Mosul and Kirkuk combined with U.S. airpower and drone capabilities would gradually bring the situation back under control and allow many of the 500,000 people to return home. The Kurds should be given responsibility for security in Mosul and Kirkuk from here on out given how far behind the Iraqi military has fallen in its training and cohesion. The Iraqi's and work on Al Anbar, Diyala and Salihadin Provinces. The border between Syria and Iraq, while it can never be sealed, needs to be less permeable and concerted effort should be made to stop the flow of weapons terrorist across the border in both directions.

A lot of good, can come from the correct use of a small amount of military force in a relatively short amount of time. Make no mistake, the war will continue, but this highly risky episode of the past week can be made history, if the President is willing to take decisive action, which unfortunately he has been unable to for several years now. The President has the means to restore the conflict to where it was a few months ago which would benefit millions of people given the current situation. The question is, will he do it?

 

[JakeStarkey]

"The United States brought the killings and instability in Iraq down and got it under control. Then Obama failed to follow through and withdrew troops prematurely."

Lying narrative^. We lost any chance of stabilizing Iraq as our long time enemy when the administration invaded with the less than 200,000 troops, 1/2 of what Shenseki would be required to permanently stabilize the country and win the peace.

Only in the surge did Bush increase to 400,000 the number of troops, mercenaries, and contractors. The violence subsided, the insurgency knowing the American people would never sustain such a presence after 2008.

Most of America felt betrayed that Obama did not immediately bring home all the troops.

You neo-cons are (1) not going to lie your way out of this, and (2) not get us involved in it again.

This is over.

 

[Steinlight]

Iran is a agent of stability in the region, the US, Saudi, and the Gulf States are agents of chaos(who have created Frankenstein monster in ISIS they lost control of). Who would have thought considering the mainstream media narrative about Iran.

Iran will help Iraq save Baghdad. But make no mistake, the shia are every bit as evil as the sunni.

Well if we are going to go into broad generalizations(sunnis are evil, shia are evil, americans are good), Shia are not as evil as a country that preemptively invades Iraq and kills hundreds of thousands, or backs terrorists in Syria. They may not be liberal democrats(not democrats in the party sense), but they have caused far less death and destruction in the Middle East then the so called western democratic powers.

 

[JakeStarkey]

Iran is a agent of stability in the region, the US, Saudi, and the Gulf States are agents of chaos(who have created Frankenstein monster in ISIS they lost control of). Who would have thought considering the mainstream media narrative about Iran.

Iran will help Iraq save Baghdad. But make no mistake, the shia are every bit as evil as the sunni.

Well if we are going to go into broad generalizations(sunnis are evil, shia are evil, americans are good), Shia are not as evil as a country that preemptively invades Iraq and kills hundreds of thousands, or backs terrorists in Syria. They may not be liberal democrats(not democrats in the party sense), but they have caused far less death and destruction in the Middle East then the so called western democratic powers.

Yup, tell that to the devil ghosts of Saddam and Khomeini.

I do agree that the US has no dog in this hunt, led the bastards bleed each other out. Neither side can defeat the other, only stalemate, which is very very good for the West.

 

[Steinlight]

Iran will help Iraq save Baghdad. But make no mistake, the shia are every bit as evil as the sunni.

Well if we are going to go into broad generalizations(sunnis are evil, shia are evil, americans are good), Shia are not as evil as a country that preemptively invades Iraq and kills hundreds of thousands, or backs terrorists in Syria. They may not be liberal democrats(not democrats in the party sense), but they have caused far less death and destruction in the Middle East then the so called western democratic powers.

Yup, tell that to the devil ghosts of Saddam and Khomeini.

I do agree that the US has no dog in this hunt, led the bastards bleed each other out. Neither side can defeat the other, only stalemate, which is very very good for the West.

Saddam wasn't a islamist, and suppressed islamists like ISIS during his reign, so bringing him up in context of this conversation is absurd.

But sure, lets compare death tolls of Saddam vs the US invasion(do we count or not count deaths under Saddam when he was supported by Iraq). And lets do a death toll comparison between the US and Khomeni while were at it as well. Please.

Disagree, the best case is Maliki wins sooner rather than later, pushes back the rebels, all before oil prices rise significantly. The second best case would be they are absorbed by Iran(very unlikely though), and oil prices stabilize. A third and more likely scenario than the second is a stalemate like in Syria, but with higher oil prices globally because of instability, who knows the effects this could have on the global economy. The fourth scenario, likely, and by far the worst, is radical islamists gaining control of Iraq and the second largest oil reserves in the middle east. Creating a base of operations for radical islamists globally and a financial base for operations through mass oil reserves. From there they could go back and capture Syria as was there original objective.

No, no sane person could spin this as a very very good situation at all. Which makes me question your sanity.

 

[TooTall]

The terrorists are now marching on Bagdad. The Iraq government is asking for help, should we oblige?
Seems strange to me that we would spend all the money & lives just to let it fall in a matter of weeks/months.

I think we should send the President to California for a fund raiser and a weekend of golf at Palm Springs. Not to worry about the small problems.

 

[paulitician]

Iran does seem to be seizing this opportunity. They're taking the lead role over there. And that's not good for our Nation. Unfortunately, Iraq has become a sad Catch 22 for us. Who do you back in this mess?...Iran and the Iranian-backed Iraqi Government, or the Sunni Al Qaeda-led Rebels? Not much of a choice. A real No-Win scenario for Americans. So it's time to cut our losses. Let's not intervene. We've spent enough American blood & treasure over there. Time to move on.

 

[I.P.Freely]

It's quite foolish to assume that these guys aren't focused on doing us harm. Just look at how they responded to the Bergdahl trade. They vowed to start abducting Americans for ransom in exchange for their own fighters.

Obama's foreign policy on Iraq is like putting a pot of water on a rolling boil, then putting it on simmer in hopes it will stop boiling altogether.

Oh this leader is a piece of work. Check this out. Even the left wing rag WP describes him as formidable.

“The true heir to Osama bin Laden may be ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi,” wrote The Washington Post’s David Ignatius. He is “more violent, more virulent, more anti-American,” a senior U.S. intelligence official told the columnist, while the cautious and uncharismatic Zawahiri “is not coping well.”

In fact, Baghdadi is now recruiting fighters from other Zawahiri affiliates, including al-Qaeda’s Yemen branch and the Somalia-based al-Shabab.

This monster is enormously successful.

“Whereas Baghdadi has done an amazing amount — he has captured cities, he has mobilized huge amounts of people, he is killing ruthlessly throughout Iraq and Syria…. If you were a guy who wanted action, you would go with Baghdadi.”

How ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi became the world?s most powerful jihadist leader - The Washington Post

How hard is it to kill Baghdadi?..

Idiots like you never learn.

 

[U2Edge]

"The United States brought the killings and instability in Iraq down and got it under control. Then Obama failed to follow through and withdrew troops prematurely."

Lying narrative^. We lost any chance of stabilizing Iraq as our long time enemy when the administration invaded with the less than 200,000 troops, 1/2 of what Shenseki would be required to permanently stabilize the country and win the peace.

Only in the surge did Bush increase to 400,000 the number of troops, mercenaries, and contractors. The violence subsided, the insurgency knowing the American people would never sustain such a presence after 2008.

Most of America felt betrayed that Obama did not immediately bring home all the troops.

You neo-cons are (1) not going to lie your way out of this, and (2) not get us involved in it again.

This is over.

Its never over when US national security and global security is involved. There issues of global terrorism and oil potentially involved in the latest incident. Unless you live like the Amish in Pennsylvania, events in Iraq and the rest of the region will continue to impact your life and the lives of everyone living in an industrialized society dependent on natural resources for energy. The Surge succeeded with a max troop level of 180,000 for the United States in Iraq. Its not necessarily the numbers of troops but how they are deployed and used which makes the most difference when it comes to stability and security.

But again in this instance, much stability can be restored, and hundreds of thousands of people will be able to return to their homes provided the President takes decisive action soon.

 

[U2Edge]

Iran does seem to be seizing this opportunity. They're taking the lead role over there. And that's not good for our Nation. Unfortunately, Iraq has become a sad Catch 22 for us. Who do you back in this mess?...Iran and the Iranian-backed Iraqi Government, or the Sunni Al Qaeda-led Rebels? Not much of a choice. A real No-Win scenario for Americans. So it's time to cut our losses. Let's not intervene. We've spent enough American blood & treasure over there. Time to move on.

If it was a matter of charity or being humanitarian and helping people, then there would be a choice about whether to help or not. But when it involves global security from global terrorism and natural resources vital to the global economy, you are already involved period!

 

[TemplarKormac]

Oh this leader is a piece of work. Check this out. Even the left wing rag WP describes him as formidable.

“The true heir to Osama bin Laden may be ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi,” wrote The Washington Post’s David Ignatius. He is “more violent, more virulent, more anti-American,” a senior U.S. intelligence official told the columnist, while the cautious and uncharismatic Zawahiri “is not coping well.”

In fact, Baghdadi is now recruiting fighters from other Zawahiri affiliates, including al-Qaeda’s Yemen branch and the Somalia-based al-Shabab.

This monster is enormously successful.

“Whereas Baghdadi has done an amazing amount — he has captured cities, he has mobilized huge amounts of people, he is killing ruthlessly throughout Iraq and Syria…. If you were a guy who wanted action, you would go with Baghdadi.”

How ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi became the world?s most powerful jihadist leader - The Washington Post

How hard is it to kill Baghdadi?..

Idiots like you never learn.

No, idiots trade five dangerous mass murderers for one common deserter. Idiots endanger the lives of every American in the Middle East/Northern Africa by doing so. Apparently, it is they who never learn. The Administration overpaid in blood. It would have been better to give them money than to let these men go. Though, it is unlikely Obama will be able to disseminate Political gain from real life consequences.

And now, we let one of the key players in the 9/11 attack go free. Never to see justice for his crime every again. The men and women who died at his hands should be spinning in their graves.

 

[Steinlight]

 

[ScienceRocks]

The problem with Iraq is between shit and sunny. They hate each other.

 

[edthecynic]

How hard is it to kill Baghdadi?..

Idiots like you never learn.

No, idiots trade five dangerous mass murderers for one common deserter. Idiots endanger the lives of every American in the Middle East/Northern Africa by doing so. Apparently, it is they who never learn. The Administration overpaid in blood. It would have been better to give them money than to let these men go. Though, it is unlikely Obama will be able to disseminate Political gain from real life consequences.

And now, we let one of the key players in the 9/11 attack go free. Never to see justice for his crime every again. The men and women who died at his hands should be spinning in their graves.

Liar!

 

[jillian]

How hard is it to kill Baghdadi?..

Idiots like you never learn.

No, idiots trade five dangerous mass murderers for one common deserter. Idiots endanger the lives of every American in the Middle East/Northern Africa by doing so. Apparently, it is they who never learn. The Administration overpaid in blood. It would have been better to give them money than to let these men go. Though, it is unlikely Obama will be able to disseminate Political gain from real life consequences.

And now, we let one of the key players in the 9/11 attack go free. Never to see justice for his crime every again. The men and women who died at his hands should be spinning in their graves.

there has never been a trial of either the people allegedly terrorists or the alleged deserter. you've been repeatedly corrected on this matter. you should stop making sweeping allegations that are unsubstantiated.

and if they were terrorists, they should have been charged and tried.

bergdahl will be tried on the issue of his conduct... but that has nothing to do with leaving him to the taliban.

 

[Politico]

The problem with Iraq is between shit and sunny. They hate each other.

That is Shite and Sunni. And yes they hate each other and always will. That is why we should stay out of it.

 

[Samson]

I have mixed feelings on this.

On one hand the middle east is a cesspool of savages and I just wish they would all kill each other off.

On the other hand do we stand by and let these savages gain control of a nation from which they would gain military assets to use against us?

Ignoring them won't make them leave us alone so whats the solution?

Don't take a taxi